Shoe and method of making the same



l. F. MARSHALL.

SHOE AND METHOD 0F MAKING THE SAME. APPLICATION FILED AuG.5,1916.

1,336,784. Patent-edm. 13,1920.

' not always assume the intended UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES F. MARSHALL, OF AUBURN, NEVI YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO DUNN &

McCARTI-IY, OF BINGHAMTN', NEVI' YORK,

A CORPORATION OF NEW,T YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

Application filed August 5, 1916. Serial No. 113,210.

To all whom z'zf may concern.'

Be it known that I, JAMES F. MARSHALL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Auburn, in the county of Cayuga and State of New York, havelinvented new and useful Improvements in Shoes and Methods of Making theSame, of which the following is a specification. 1 y

This invention relates to boots and shoes that have covered heels, andparticularly to the method of attaching and covering the heels.

rThe usual method of boots and shoes with covered heels, usually Frenchheels, is as follows. The heels are made by a manufacturer other thanthe manufacturer of the shoe, and the covers of leather, satin,celluloid, or other thin sheet material, are attached to the heels bythe heel manu-facturer. The shoe manufacturer, before making requisitionupon the heel manufacturer for covered heels, has to providing ladiesestimate the shapes and sizes of the heelseat portions of the shoes thathe expects to make, and the heel manufacturer shapes the heelsaccordingly, but in the course of making the shoes the heel-seatportions do shapes. Variations in this respect are brought about byvariations in the thickness of the counter stiffeners, in the thicknessof the upperleather, and 'by non-uniformA workmanship in lasting theshoes. Inasmuch as the shape of the heel is predetermined, and the shapeof the heel-seat portion of the shoe cannot always be predetermined, thelatter has to be fitted to the heel in order to produce a satisfactory'finished shoe.v The operation of fitting the shoe to the heel isattended by much difficulty and annoyance and in some cases requiresmuch extra time.

The body or blank of a covered heel is usually made of a single piece ofwood, the cover is fitted smoothly to its upright surface, and the uppermarginal portion of the cover is turned in upon the heel-seat portion ofthe heel-blank, which has to be dishedor concaved to a considerabledegree to receive the heel-seat portion ofthe outsole so that the upperpart of the heelcover andthe lower part of the shoe upper will meet insubstantially contiguous relation and not expose the edge of theheelseat portionof the outsole. Furthermore, the marginal portion of theheel-seat portion of the outsole has to be trimmed to a feather edge topermit such meeting of the heel-cover and upper. Such trimming of theheel-seat portion of the outsole requires great care and considerabletime, because the bottom surface thereof has to be fitted accurately tothe concavity in the top of the heel, for if the outsole is notaccurately fitted to the heel the latter will not ble rigidly held whenit is attached to the s oe.

My present improved method of making a shoe of the character statedenables the shoe manufacturer to attach an uncovered heel-blank in therough to a lasted shoe, to shape the heel-blank to conform to theheelseat portion of the shoe, and to attach the heel-cover to theattached heel-blank. The shoe manufacturer is relieved ofthe necessityof trimming the marginal portion of the heel-seat portion of the outsoleto a feather edge, because the upper marginal portion of the heel-covermay be tucked into the `crevice between the pulled over portion of theupper and the marginal portion of the outsole. The heel cover is thusutilized to cover the edge of the heel-seat portion of the outsole inaddition to covering the heel-blank.

My present improved method reverses the condition of making shoes thathave covered heels, in the following respect, to wit,-the heel-blankistrimmed to conform to the 'predetermined shape of the shoe, whereasVaccording to the method now prevailing the shoe has to be made toconform tothe predetermined shape of the covered heel. This improvedmethod saves much time in the'l manufacture of the shoes, dispenses withthe necessity of so much care as formerly in fitting one to the other,reduces the cost of the heels, permits the use of heel-blanks` made oflifts of leather, leatherboard, or other material than wood, and enablesthe counter portion of the iinished shoe to retain the shape imparted toit'by the last. I do not mean to have it understood that my presentinvention requires aheel-blankmade of lifts of leather, leatherboard orotherl material than wood, for, as a matter of fact, it may be practisedwith a wood heel-blank, although it would be moreeconomical to useblanks made of such lifts instead of blanks made of wood. Theheel-blanks may be attached in the rough,

trimmed while attached, and then covered, regardless of the material ofwhich they are made.

Of the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a boot provided with a coveredheel in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 represents a vertical section, on a larger scale, of thestructure intersected by line 2-2 of Fig. 1. i

Fig. 3 represents a vertical section similar to Fig. 2, but showing theshoe in an incomplete condition. ln this figure a heelblank in the roughand composed of a plurality of lifts is attached to a lasted shoe and isready to be trimmed to conform to the shoe preparatory to having theheelcover attached to it. Y

VFiguif represents a face view of a heelcover of sheet material.

The same' referenceV characters indicate the same parts wherever theyoccur.

In practising my present improved method the upper 10 and insole'11would be lasted as usual, which operation would include fastening thepulled-over marginal portion 12 of the upper to the heel-seat portionThe leading ends of these tacks would be turned back and clenched,as'shown, by the usual metal plate with which the heel-seat portion of alast is usually provided. have not attempted to illustrate in detail thecomponent parts of the upper, such as the upper proper, the counterstiffener, and the lining, but it will be understood that these elementsconjointly constitute the upper that is indicated'at 10 in Figs. 2 and3.

After the upper and insole have been lasted as hereinbefore explained,the neXt operationV would be attaching the outsole 14. The heel-seatportion of the outsole is indicated at 15 in Figs. 2 and 3, and it maybe observed, particularly in Fig. 2, which represents the finished shoe,that the marginal portion of the outsole is not trimmed to a featheredge but is of the same thickness as the middle portion. My presentmethod does not call for any departure Vfrom the usual method ofattaching the outsole excepting, possibly,` setting the heelseat nails16` a little farther in from the edge of the sole than the distanceythat might otherwise be considered desirable. The reason for setting theheel-seat nails in from the edge is to leave the marginal portion of theoutsole sufficiently free to be pried away slightly fromk thepulled-over portion ofthe upper to permit tucking in the upper marginalportion of, the heel cover as hereinafter explained.v

When the outsole Vhas been attached, a heel-blank 17 in the rough may beattached. So far as the fundamental principle of the present method isconcerned, it would not of the insole by lasting tacks 13.V

Vwry

matter whether the heel-blank were made of a single piece of wood ormade of a plurality of lifts of other material, but I have shown aheel-blank of the latter form to show as far as possible all theadvantages of this method. The heel-nails are represented by dottedlines in Fig. 3 and are indicated at 1S. These nails hold the liftstogether and are driven through the outsole and insole to attach theheel-blank to the lasted shoe. Although it is customary to support thelasted shoe in an inverted position throughout the operations oflasting, sole laying and heel attaching, I have not attempted to showsuch position, as it would tend to confuse the "observer in view of theother figures of drawing. iVhen the heel-blank has been attached asshown by Fig.` 3 it may be trimmedto the desired shape and scoured, and,inthe course of the trimming operation, the edge of the outsole wouldalso be trimmed, with the advantage that the heel-*blank and the edge ofthev outsole can be trimmed to conform to the outline of the lastedshoe.

VAssuming that the attached heel-blank has been trimmed and is Vready toreceive a heel-cover, the operation of attaching the latter would be thenext step. Fig. 4 illustrates a heel-cover of sheet lmaterial in a flatcondition, but shaped as to outline according to the size and style ofheel that it is to cover. One or both confronting surfaces of thetrimmed heel-blankr and Yheelcover would be coated with'suitableadhesive substance such as cement, and then the heel-cover would befitted to the upright surface of the heel-blank so that the curvedmarginal portion 21 would be in position to be tucked into the crevicebetween the outsole and upper, as shown by Fig. 2. It would not matter,so far as the principle of this method is concerned, whether theheelcover were fitted tothe upright surface of the heel before themarginal `portion 21 is tucked in, or vice versa, the order ofperforming these two details being optional with the Shoemaker. VHavingfitted the cover 20 to the heel-blank and having tucked in the marginalportion 21 as eX- plained, the next step would be to turn in and fasten,by cement or otherwise, the marginal portion 224 of the heel-.cover sothat the latter marginal portion' would octhe position shown by Fig. 2.The marginal portions'23 would be turned in against the breast of theheel-blank and would be securedv to the latter by cement, and then abreast facing 24, that may be a split portion of the outsole or aseparate piece ofY thin leather, would be secured to the breast and tothe marginal portions 23 by cement. The heel would then be ready toreceive the usual top lift 25, which would be attached by. any suitablemeans such as a screw 26 and nails 27, preferably with the addition ofcement to make the seam tight.

In case it is desired to use a heel-blank that has been trimmed to thedesired shape and made smooth prior to being attached to the shoe, theprocedure hereinbefore described would be Varied by omitting theheel-trimming operation. In some cases the trimmed heel-blanks mightconform to the lasted shoe so well that no trimming would be necessaryafter attaching them. In other cases a very slight after-trimming wouldbe suiiicient. In every case, however, the shoe maker would be relievedof the necessity of trimming the `outsole to a feather edge, and theheel-cover would go over, instead of under, the edge of the outsole.

claim:

l. The hereindescribed method of making a shoe, which consists inlasting the upper and insole, attaching an outsole that has an untrimmedheel-seat edge, attaching a heel-blank, trimming said heel-blank and theheel-seat edge of the outsole, and attaching a heel-cover to the trimmedheelblank and tucking the upper marginal portion of such cover betweenthe marginal portion of the heel-seat portion of the outsole and thepulled-over portion of the upper.

2. The hereindescribed method of making a shoe, which consists inlasting the upper and insole, attaching an outsole, attaching aheel-blank, trimming the attached heel-blank, and attaching a heelcoverto said heel-blank and tucking the marginal portion of such coverbetween the contiguous heel-seat portions of the upper and outsole.

3. The hereindescribed method of making a shoe, which consists inlastingl the upper and insole, attaching an outsole, attaching aheel-blank, attaching a heel-cover to said heel-blank, coating the uppermarginal portion of said heel-cover with adhesive substance, and tuckingsaid marginal portion between the contiguous heel-seat portions of theupper and outsole.

In testimony whereof I have aiixed my signature.

JAMES F. MARSHALL.

